THYLACINETHE NOMADIC DJ

This French DJ is inspired by movement. He recorded and composed an album on the Trans-Siberian and a second album in his Airstream while traveling through Latin America. Let´s hear what he has to say

After composing an album on the Trans-Siberian and a second album in your Airstream, do you think you could have the same inspiration in a studio?

No, of course not. It’s the main goal of those projects. I try to find something I could never have in a normal studio. Inspiration, sounds, and new music and cultures as well. I get bored very easily in a studio and I don’t feel like I’ve got much to say in my tracks if I stay seated in a closed room for a long time.

Can you tell us where we will see you with your Airstream for Vol. 2?

No, I’m sorry I’ll have to keep that to myself for the time being! I like to keep the audience waiting until the very last moment. But of course I want to do a Vol.2, and see how a totally different environment will impact my music in another way.

What vibrates when you hear something new from different ethnicities / cultures and decide to merge them into your album?

Well it’s hard to explain, but hearing something new (for me at east) is very exciting. Sometimes I just focus on a few seconds or notes that really attract me, and I instantly now how to use them. And it’s also a sound that has a story, which is a lot more inspiring for me than finding samples on YouTube.

What do you find more enriching: composing and producing in inhospitable places or acting in large theaters, hanging the Sold Out sign out?

Composing and building projects like those, it’s not about the moment - which can sometimes not be very pleasant - but more about a goal in life, and an artistic vision.

It’s something that stays, and also something that pushes me beyond my limits, so I guess that’s more enriching for me.

While acting is experiencing and sharing this vision directly with the audience, which is a lot more enjoyable, it probably has a less profound meaning. In the end it is very related to the first part. I couldn’t do one without the other to be honest.

Having been able to enjoy a concert of yours at L’Olympia de Paris, and seeing the production behind each performance, how long does it take you to prepare a Live Set of those characteristics?

There is one part that took years; years to build and acquire the skills in order to be able to improvise and play my machines without thinking, as if they were an instrument. This is how I create all the structures of my tracks during the performance so it’s very important in the end. There is also the visual part, where I probably work quite a few months before to design and create the scenography, while assembling the video material and finding the good technical and artistic interaction in between the visuals and my music. And finally, I spend a few weeks finding the best track list and the way to play them.

What is it like to collaborate with Yaeltex and be able to build your own controller?

It was great to finally be able to create the controller I was dreaming of (or close to)! It was also very interesting to be able to share and communicate with the ones behind the machines, and to learn a bit more about how they work.

What makes you keep experimenting with the search for new sounds like charengo?

Well now that I have this real music studio on wheels, I can finally explore more about recording acoustic sounds and instruments. This is something that excites me a lot, especially when it’s instruments that I don’t anything about. I guess I just love to discover and learn new stuff, especially when it sounds good and is different than what I am used to hearing.